Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Which functional claims in beverage resonate with consumers?

The result is an increasingly competitive landscape with more companies flooding the market with drinks offering a variety of benefits, flavors and even textures in a near infinite number of permutations with the hope that something ​ will catch shoppers’ attention and gain traction. To help even the odds of success, I caught up with Jenny Zegler, an associate director on Mintel’s food and drink platform, at the Institute of Food Technologists’ Annual Summit in New Orleans earlier this month. In this episode of FoodNavigator-USA’s Soup-To-Nuts Podcast, she shares which functions are emerging as winners in the beverage space and which categories are currying consumers’ favor currently. Dan Force, who manages the innovative products division at the ingredient, flavor and blending company Prinova Group also chimes in with what he sees as the next big winners in beverage. Blurring lines are double-edged sword ​ According to Zegler the blurring between beverage categories and between beverage and food is a double-edge sword that brings opportunity, but also significant challenges. “We are starting see more with what we call beverage blurring – just so many different categories answering almost every sing need that consumers want,” ​ she said. From a consumer perspective the trend is “beneficial [because] they get to choose. They get to have fun with what they are doing,” ​ she said. “But from a category or company landscape it is so challenging to try and figure out what do people want, what can we mix, what flavors belong where because consumers just don’t care. They are just looking for something that seems like it tastes good, might be new, might be fun” ​ and what might be “cool.” ​ New, easy-to-use hop essences deliver full aromatic profiles and flavor characteristics of traditional dry hopping, but with increased yield. […]

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